Strictly in the "FWIW" dept, my '88 Olson 34 was offered with two rigs, standard and tall. I have the later, thru blind luck. I sail in a light wind area so this works out just fine for me. The difference is about 2 feet of mast, if memory serves.
While this might make some difference in speed in very light air, I am not so sure about winds over 8 knots (to pick a number).
You state: "Blamed it on poor sails, no folding prop, learning a new boat, etc."
Any ONE of these can make a HUGE diffference in light air. I would look critically at the shape of the sails. At the age of your boat, a recut may give more life for a while, but it's likely that new sails need to be ordered now when discounts are in effect.
How 'bout that prop? When we got the Olson it had a fixed two blade, and a buddy's E-33 with a folder would literally walk right away from me in light air.
Now I have a feathering two blade and so does he.
A quarter or half a knot of lost speed is a heckofa lot when you are only going 4 knots... or less...
I also see some design philosophy changes here. (On this my opinion could range from mistaken to out-to-lunch...) I will plunge in anyway...
Your E-30+ was first a very fast boat, but with good accomodations designed into a speedy hull and rig, IMHO.
Now you first have a roomy tri-cabin cruising interior with good sailing performance, but you are sort of approaching things from the other end of the design spectrum. I admit that I have not sailed an E-34, but spent some time looking through one last month, just for fun (I always wanted to see what the factory was building with my "type" of interior but oriented to the cruising market).
What with my lack of cabinetry and tankage, and quite different hull form/stern sections, I could kinda see where my design rates at fast as 99 down in SF Bay. I would take a jolly long time for me to sail it up to that number, however...
Please keep us posted.
Fair Winds,
Loren in Portland, OR
Olson 34 #8